IDENTITY THEFT - Washington State Digital Archives

IDENTITY THEFT - Washington State Digital

WashingtonState Attorney General’s Office • Send a copy of the police report to the three credit reporting agencies listed. The credit bureaus are required to block information victims identify as resulting from identify theft. Once these credit reporting agencies receive the police report and a request from you, they are required to block any adverse information resulting from the identity theft from your credit report. Major Credit Bureaus Equifax P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374 1-800-685-1111 (Order Credit Report) 1-800-525-6285 (Report Fraud) Experian P.O. Box 2104, Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 (Order Credit Report) 1-888-397-3742 (Report Fraud) Trans Union P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022 1-800-888-4213 (Order Credit Report) 1-800-680-7289 (Report Fraud) Report the identity theft to your financial institution and other creditors. • They may advise you to close your accounts and start over with new ones. • Ask your financial institution what procedures they require of victims whose credit cards or checks have been stolen or forged. Ask businesses to provide you with information about transactions made in your name. • Businesses must give you this information but may require proof of your identification including a copy of the police report and a statement from the WashingtonState Patrol that your fingerprints are on file. • If you need to obtain your fingerprints for this purpose, the WashingtonState Patrol provides this service. You will pay a fee and be given a document indicating that your fingerprints are on file. You may then forward this document to the business that requested them. Businesses refusing to provide information to you may be subject to actual damages, plus a $1,000 penalty for willful violations. If the ID thief has stolen your checks or made counterfeit checks, and then used those checks to make purchases or pay bills, you will likely be contacted by collection agencies that want you to pay the debts. • Explain to each collection agency in writing that you have been the victim of identity theft. • You will need to provide the following information: a copy of a government-issued photo identification obtained prior to the alleged identity theft; a certified copy of a police report; a written statement describing the nature of the fraud or identity theft; information regarding the relevant financial institutions, account numbers, check numbers, etc; and a statement that the debt is being disputed because of an identity theft. • Once a collection agency has been notified that the debt is a result of an identity theft, the collection agency may not continue to call you. This prevents victims from being inundated with calls for every misused check if they have had a box or book of checks stolen or forged. • Although calls might stop, you may still be subject to legal action by collection agencies. However, there are limits on what a collection agency can do to try to collect a debt from you. For more information about debt collection, please see the Attorney General’s web site at http://www.atg.wa.gov or call the AG’s consumer line at 1-800-551-4636. Resources for Identity Theft Victims If you are a victim of identity theft, contact your local law enforcement agency and the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Hotline, 1-877-IDTHEFT. The FTC and Attorney General post step-by-step directions on their websites for reporting identity theft and protecting your credit history. The Internet addresses are: Federal Trade Commission: www.ftc.gov WashingtonState Attorney General’s Office: www.atg.wa.gov The Attorney General’s Consumer Resource Centers can help refer you to the proper authorities, assist victims with referrals, and help resolve problems with credit reporting and collections. Consumer Resource Centers can be reached at 1-800-551-4636. Provided courtesy of Rob McKenna, Attorney General of the State of Washington Identity Theft A Guide For Consumers